Alexandre Lacazette Winner Sees Arsenal Past Cardiff in Premier League Thriller

Alexandre Lacazette's late winner saw Arsenal to a 3-2 win over Cardiff City on Sunday in a thrilling Premier League encounter.

The visitors took the lead when Shkodran Mustafi thudded a header home from close range after a Granit Xhaka corner. However, the hosts created the better openings and scored their first goal of the season on the stroke of half-time through Victor Camarasa.

The Gunners responded well after the break and were back in front in the 62nd minute thanks to a precision finish from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. But again, they were let down by slack defending, as Danny Ward headed the home side level.

In the end, Lacazette's moment of class was enough to win it for Arsenal. He turned his man in the area before finishing into the roof of the net.

Victory for Unai Emery's side moves them up to seventh place in the Premier League before the international break. Cardiff remain in 16th spot.

Arsenal Should Turn to Bernd Leno Amid Petr Cech Struggles

Athena Pictures/Getty Images

One of the tropes of Emery's time in charge of Arsenal has been the demand placed on all players to be comfortable on the ball. However, it's not a tweak that has suited Cech.

The experienced goalkeeper almost scored an embarrassing own goal in Arsenal's first game of the season against Manchester City and made more errors in south Wales. Early on in both halves, he passed the ball straight to Cardiff players, only for the chances to be spurned.

As B/R's Dean Jones noted after Cech's early mistake, he was fortunate not to concede:

Given the nervousness at the back whenever Cech is on the ball, a change between the sticks is surely in store following the international break.

The Gunners recruited Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, and he appears much more suited to this style of football. It would be a surprise if he didn't make his debut in Arsenal's next game, against Newcastle United on Sept. 15.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang-Alexandre Lacazette Partnership Can Fuel Top-4 Push

Catherine Ivill/Getty Images

While there are clearly big issues elsewhere in the Arsenal setup, in Aubameyang and Lacazette, the team has two excellent forwards.

When Aubameyang arrived in January, there were questions as to how the pair would both fit in the same side. But there have been signs of a partnership flourishing lately. Lacazette played a neat pass into the Gabon international for his goal before rattling home the decisive third himself.

As we can see, Aubameyang has been potent in front of goal throughout his career:

Meanwhile, James Benge of the Evening Standard was full of praise for Lacazette:

Gunners fans will be delighted with what they saw from the duo here and will be hoping to see them on the field together frequently throughout the campaign.

Although issues in goal, in defence and midfield will prevent Arsenal from challenging for the title this season, they have enough going forward to push for a top-four spot.

Cardiff Early Favourites for Relegation

While they were much improved here than they had been in recent weeks, the initial stages of the season have shown Cardiff as the early favourites for relegation.

It took the newly promoted side a long time to get off the mark in the Premier League.

There were times in this encounter when the team did show glimpses of an attacking identity, and Neil Warnock's side were always a threat from set pieces. However, in midfield, they lacked control of the game. And every time Arsenal went forward, they appeared to be a threat.

It's still early days, and a number of sides have shown significant frailties early on. However, based on what we've seen, Cardiff will find it difficult to preserve their Premier League status this term.

What's Next?

Following the international break, Arsenal travel to Newcastle. Things don't get any easier for Cardiff when domestic football returns, as they go up against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.